Chicago, Again May 5, 2006
Posted by gordonwatts in university.trackback
I find myself in Chicago again, and my students about to take another test tomorrow morning (Friday). I'm here, as usual, to work on research. What do I find myself working on?
- Awards for our department (we will have a dinner on May 23rd to hand out fellowships and scholarships for best undergraduate students, graduate students, etc.).
- Paper reviews for D0.
- Reviewing applications for our ATLAS post-doc position.
- Meetings with ATLAS folks (over in Europe).
- Meetings with my graduate student here and his analysis group and the D0 Level 3/DAQ group.
Except for the last, I could have done all of them back at UW. On the other hand, there is no one to interrupt me here – so I get much more done than I do back at UW.
About 25% of our department has a second office in a different building — half way across campus from the regular physics building. I wonder if that means they hardly get interrupted over there and so are much more efficient in getting research done? 🙂
Life as a Physicist 
There are some of us at NPL who occasionally like to work in the physics buildilng, as it can be quieter and less distracting. Sometimes it’s all about getting away from your normal desk where everyone knows where to find you.
Yeah — you are right. When I was at Fermi and moved back to UW it was great — I got so much work done back at UW as compared to Fermi. Now it is the opposite. I guess the idea of a “retreat” is a good one!